Microsoft’s motion-sensing peripheral currently known as Project Natal is in the prototype phase, and The Seattle Times snagged this shot of the device, a secret agent sent by Skynet to kill John Connor and ensure the robotic enslavement of the human race.

Jay knows his tale of having gone through six Xbox 360s isn’t all that unusual, but he rightly expresses that it’s pathetic that stories like his are common. The poor guy even bought an Xbox 360 Elite in hopes that the redesign would be more reliable. But alas, his Elite and its replacements now broken as many times as his chain of launch consoles.

If you’re an Xbox 360 gamer who likes to play online, you’d do well to hit up Amazon for an Xbox Live subscription card or three. The 12-month subscriptions are $35 rather than $50, and you can stack one card on top of the other, ensuring your 360 and its red ring of death descendants will be online until John Cusack’s movie destroys the planet.

Electronic Arts announced that by Feb. 2 it will take away online play from several sports games released in 2008 or earlier, thus negating any real reason to keep playing them and pushing customers to buying newer releases.

Xbox 360 owners like to compare horror stories about how often their console has broken down, but few can top the tale of Joseph, the man so unlucky that his refurbished Xbox 360 didn’t break down once until its three-year red ring of death warranty lapsed.

Robby didn’t feel like showing his receipt to the Walmart receipt checker, and when the guy came after him, Robby ignored him. That’s when other shoppers started closing in on him, and why he started running.

Jeff can no longer play his two Xbox 360s online because Microsoft has banned him with no explanation. When he calls customer service, he says he’s accused of modding his consoles, which he insists he hasn’t.

Maybe excitement around the Rock Band video game has faded, but if you were one of the holdouts who were always jealous of friends who brought the game home a couple years back, now is the time to have your latent wishes fulfilled.

Jon ordered 20 Xbox 360s and was happy with all of them, except for the one that came with a mis-matched power brick adapter. He called Microsoft customer service but says he was stonewalled, dealing with a rep who was either quite misinformed, lazy, lying, or some combination of the three.

Bryan sent us this photo he shot at a local Best Buy that shows a helpful employee named Kim has opened an Xbox 360, hooked it up to the internet and pressed the “X” button, downloading the latest system update. For all this hard, un-requested work, she also added $29.99 to the sticker price.